A free speech battle is brewing in Washington after a judge banished from the US capital an anti-abortion protester who scaled a tree and shouted repeatedly during US President Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony this week.
Rives Grogan, a 47-year-old self-described ‘open-air preacher’, was arrested by police on Monday for disorderly conduct after he climbed a tree near the Capitol reflecting pool and attempted to shout down Obama during Monday’s ceremony.
Grogan is a notoriously belligerent anti-abortion activist who has been arrested by Washington police numerous times in the past for his protests near the US Capitol.
His treetop expedition might have just been another routine encounter with authorities for him if not for judge Karen Howze, who Tuesday ordered Grogan to be arrested should he set foot in Washington before his scheduled Feb 25 hearing in connection with the incident.
Grogan told RIA Novosti Thursday that he was ‘flabbergasted’ when he heard the judge’s order, which he called a clear violation of his rights under the US Constitution.
‘I’ve been arrested probably over 30 times since 1994,’ Grogan said in a telephone interview. ‘There is no city in the whole United States that has ever told me to stay out altogether. … They don’t want me on Capitol Hill because I open-air preach loud enough so they can hear me.’
Rives Grogan, a 47-year-old self-described ‘open-air preacher’, was arrested by police on Monday for disorderly conduct after he climbed a tree near the Capitol reflecting pool and attempted to shout down Obama during Monday’s ceremony.
Grogan is a notoriously belligerent anti-abortion activist who has been arrested by Washington police numerous times in the past for his protests near the US Capitol.
His treetop expedition might have just been another routine encounter with authorities for him if not for judge Karen Howze, who Tuesday ordered Grogan to be arrested should he set foot in Washington before his scheduled Feb 25 hearing in connection with the incident.
Grogan told RIA Novosti Thursday that he was ‘flabbergasted’ when he heard the judge’s order, which he called a clear violation of his rights under the US Constitution.
‘I’ve been arrested probably over 30 times since 1994,’ Grogan said in a telephone interview. ‘There is no city in the whole United States that has ever told me to stay out altogether. … They don’t want me on Capitol Hill because I open-air preach loud enough so they can hear me.’